Anti-graft agency to probe construction of bridge in Kashmir

An anti-corruption agency today began probe into the construction of a bailey bridge on Rambiara stream by Roads and Buildings department in Shopian district of south Kashmir as it was found that it was made without prior administrative approval.
A team of Vigilance Organisation sleuths conducted a surprise check in the office of Executive Engineer Roads and Buildings Division Shopian yesterday and found that a bailey bridge on Rambiara stream at Trenz, 56 kms from here, has been constructed without administrative approval and technical sanction, thus an amount of over Rs 1.50 crore have been wasted, a spokesman of the Vigilance of Kashmir said.

The bridge collapsed some time back. The surprise check also found that during the last two years at this spot, the department has shown restoration work to have been done five times, the spokesman said.
"An amount of Rs 150.17 Lakhs have been found wasted on the (bailey) bridge. Instead, the Roads and Buildings Division should have proposed a permanent bridge which could have sustained the peak discharge in the stream," he said, adding "likewise, crores of rupees have been spent by the Division on other spots of the same Nallah (Rambiara) at Batpopra and other spots".
The spokesman said a detailed verification has been taken up to establish involvement of the engineers and contractors in wasting government funds.